Camshaft adjusters are used in internal combustion engines to vary the control times of the combustion chamber valves to be able to vary the phase relation between the crankshaft and the camshaft in a defined angle range between a maximum early and a maximum late position. Adjusting the control times to the instantaneous load and rotational speed reduces consumption and emissions. For this purpose, camshaft adjusters are integrated into a drive train via which a torque is transferred from the crankshaft to the camshaft. This drive train may be designed, for example, as a belt, chain or gear drive.
In a hydraulic camshaft adjuster, the output element and the driving element form one or multiple pair(s) of counteracting pressure chambers to which a hydraulic medium is applied. The driving element and the output element are coaxially situated. A relative movement between the driving element and the output element is created by filling and emptying individual pressure chambers. The rotatively acting spring between the driving element and the output element pushes the driving element towards the output element in an advantageous direction. This advantageous direction may be in the same direction or the opposite direction of the direction of rotation.
One design of the hydraulic camshaft adjuster is the vane-type adjuster. Vane-type adjusters include a stator, a rotor and a drive wheel which has an external toothing. The rotor as the output element is usually designed to be rotatably fixedly connectable to the camshaft. The driving element includes the stator and the drive wheel. The stator and the drive wheel are rotatably fixedly connected to each other or, alternatively, they are designed to form a single piece with each other. The rotor is situated coaxially with respect to the stator and inside the stator. Together with their radially extending vanes, the rotor and stator form oppositely acting oil chambers to which oil pressure may be applied and which facilitate a relative rotation between the stator and the rotor. The vanes are either designed to form a single piece with the rotor or the stator or are situated as “plugged-in vanes” in grooves of the rotor or stator provided for this purpose. The vane-type adjusters furthermore have various sealing covers. The stator and the sealing covers are secured to each other with the aid of multiple screw connections.
Another design of the hydraulic camshaft adjuster is the axial piston adjuster. In this case, a shifting element, which creates a relative rotation between a driving element and an output element via inclined toothings, is axially shifted with the aid of oil pressure.
DE 102 53 496 A1 shows a camshaft adjuster which has two locking mechanisms. Each locking mechanism engages with its particular groove, and together they define a center position within the adjusting range of the camshaft adjuster.